What Happened to Being Perfect?
by Maxine-san
Summary: The war's over and the guys want to work at Preventors, but a law was passed that won't let them. Can they meet the requirements of this new law? And why does living normally suddenly seem harder than fighting in the war ever was? Finished!
1. Part 1

What Happened to Being Perfect?

So this was written for my one-year anniversary at FFnet, and it's basically a bunch of random ideas that had been floating around in my head that were joined together in a story form. It takes place right after the end of Endless Waltz, so our boys are sixteen years old, kay? Enjoy!

_Disclaimer_ - Not mine! Just borrowing for a bit, is all.

* * *

Click-click-click-clickety-click-click...pause...delete-delete-delete-delete...click-click-click...delete-delete-delete...click-click-

Heero growled in annoyance and squinted at the computer in front of him. The words were all blurring together on the screen and he kept having to go back to redo what he'd written before. It was becoming increasingly annoying, and it didn't help that the report he was writing was due tomorrow. And it wasn't a report for Preventors or anything. No, far from it actually. It was for his English class. That's right, ENGLISH class.

(Flashback)

Though the wars had finally ended, life hadn't gotten much easier for the former Gundam pilots. Heero hadn't had anything to do really, so he'd contacted Duo and was staying with him until he found a job somewhere. Trowa was discovering that life at a circus REALLY was not his thing, so before he got too attached to anything, he left, telling Cathy he'd keep in touch. He'd gone to stay with Quatre for a while, only to find that Quatre was as unhappy with his job of running a major corporation as Trowa had been working at the circus. It was too much for a sixteen year old to do. Back on L2, Duo was becoming increasingly bored with selling scrap parts to people all day, and Heero still hadn't had any luck in finding a job that he liked. So, the two had called up Quatre, and after only a short discussion, the four teens headed to Earth to get a job doing what they did best. They went to Preventors. Quatre had eagerly handed the corporation over to his sisters, while Duo had left the scrap yard in the hands of Hilde. Soon, the four found themselves in Lady Une's office, applying for jobs, but they weren't too pleased with the answer.

Lady Une stared at the four boys in front of her through slightly wide eyes. They were everything that Preventors needed, and were definitely qualified for the job, but there was just ONE little problem...

"Uh...well guys, I um, I'm thrilled that y-you want to work with Preventors, but we just passed this new rule. Well, actually, it's a LAW now, and um..." Une trailed off.

"Wait, are you saying we can't work here!" Duo exclaimed.

"What is this new law?" Heero asked at the same time. Lady Une shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she looked at the two.

"Well, yes I'm saying you can't work here, the reason being that you don't have...high school diplomas. The law requires that if you are to work in Preventors, you must be at least eighteen years old and have graduated high school." Duo and Quatre's jaws dropped, and Heero and Trowa actually went to the extent of widening their eyes.

"B-but...but Wufei works here!" Duo shouted, not believing what he was hearing.

"Yes, well, it's a quite a coincidence that you happened to come today. See, we haven't TOLD Wufei yet. I actually have a meeting with him and Sally in about ten minutes," Une said, glancing at her watch. "If you'd like to stick around, you're welcome to." They stayed, and sure enough, ten minutes later Sally and Wufei walked in. Well, Sally walked in, Wufei paused at the door, looking at the extra people in the room in shock.

"What're YOU guys doing here?" he asked.

"Well, nice to see you too, Wu-man," Duo replied sarcastically. "We were here applying for a job but-"

"Wufei! It's good to see you!" Quatre cut in, rushing over to shake Wufei's hand in greeting.

"So, you guys are going to work here?" Wufei asked, looking at them warily.

"Well, we want to but they won't let us because-"

"Do you like working here, Wufei?" Trowa asked quickly, once again cutting Duo off.

"...I do," Wufei replied slowly.

"Aw, too bad, because you won't be working here anymo-"

"DUO!" everyone in the room shouted, with the exception of Wufei. Duo just glared at them all.

"WHY won't I be working here anymore?" Wufei asked sharply. "You're not firing me, are you?" He turned to Lady Une. Une shared a look with Sally, and then turned to Wufei.

"Well, not exactly. We're just...putting you on hold for two years."

"Oh ok then- WHAT! Two years!"

"Wufei, a law was passed that said if you're going to work in Preventors, you must be eighteen years old and have a high school diploma. You and the others don't have either of those two things tucked under your belt yet," Sally explained calmly.

"However, you will still be guaranteed your job in two years if you have obtained a high school diploma," Une added. She looked thoughtful for a few seconds, and then continued. "Preventors plans on taking care of all expenses in order to get you enrolled in a high school. If you do it now, you will be going in as a sophomore, and will still be allowed to receive a diploma after your senior year." She turned to the other four. "Though you four do not work here, I'm sure I can find a way to get the same deal for you, and the five of you can enroll in a high school together. We'll even provide an apartment for you." Wufei looked shocked at the whole thing. The other four looked as if they were considering it.

"I'll do it!" Duo spoke up first.

"Yes, me too," Quatre said. Trowa and Heero both shrugged and nodded. Wufei blinked a few times, and then shrugged his shoulders.

"Ugh, fine. I guess it makes since. Where will you be sending us?" Lady Une and Sally smiled.

"You'll be going to a public school in the United States. That gives you a better chance of being unnoticed as former Gundam pilots. The school we were looking at is in New York. It's called," Une paused to look at some papers, "Capri Hill. They're known as the Capri Cougars, and apparently have a very good sports program. They also have extremely high testing scores, so it should be enjoyable for you," she finished.

"Why do we have to go to school anyway?" Duo asked. "We just fought through a war, and now we have to go to high school to get a job?"

"This'll give you the chance to get back into the hang of peaceful times. And you might find that you ENJOY high school. Plus, you'll be able to learn all sorts of new things," Une answered.

"I bet I already know everything that's important," Duo said haughtily.

"What's the Law of Conversion of Matter?" Sally asked, a small smirk on her face. Duo blinked.

"The law of what of what?" he asked. Sally laughed.

"See? You'll learn about that in chemistry, one of the classes you're taking."

"Why do we need to know about a Law of...of..." Quatre trailed off, but Duo answered his question anyway.

"Well, duh, Quat. If we don't know what the law is, then we could get in trouble for accidentally breaking it or something." Heero, Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre blinked, wondering if that was true or not. Sally, on the other hand, continued laughing, and Lady Une joined her.

(End Flashback)

So, about two weeks later in the middle of February, the five found themselves in a new apartment, with new wardrobes, enrolled at Capri Hill, trying to live the normal life they had all missed out on. It didn't make much since to Heero why THEY had to go back to high school when others, like Relena, were aloud to continue their jobs without interference, but he didn't have much say in the matter. He'd only been at school about a week, and he already had this stupid report on William Shakespeare due the next day. What was so important about Shakespeare anyway? Heero had greatly underestimated the importance of this assignment, and hadn't started it until the last minute.

'Grrrr...stupid report, stupid school, stupid law, stupid...stupid EVERYTHING!' he thought angrily. He paused in his typing to glance around the dark room. The only light was coming from the glow of his computer screen. Heero figured it had to be late. That must have been why everything was going slightly fuzzy; he was too tired. It was dead silent in the room, proving that his roommates had already gone to sleep some time ago...or so he thought until-

"Hey Heero!" Duo shouted, banging the door open. Heero actually jumped at the sudden intrusion and turned to glare at the blurry figure in the doorway. Blinking, Heero rubbed his eyes, clearing them up a little.

"Do you mind?" he asked grumpily. "Trowa and Wufei are sleeping." Duo blinked.

"Uh...no they're not." Trowa's head suddenly appeared over Duo's shoulder.

"We were downstairs," he said, flicking on the light switch, causing Heero to wince at the brightness. "You shouldn't work in the dark like that. It's bad for your eyes." Heero shrugged, and then stood up and stretched a little.

"What time is it then?" he asked. Trowa checked his watch.

"8:37," he replied. Heero nearly fell back in his chair.

"It's still that early?" That was good, plenty of time to work on his report.

"Yeah. Hey Heero, I need help on this math. Can you help me?" Duo asked, coming over and plopping down on one of the beds. "I don't understand ANY of this. Y varies indirectly as four times the cube of X; graph the solution? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he read from one of the books. Heero turned around in his chair.

"Can't one of the others help you?" he asked. "I have to finish this Shakespeare report and-"

"You're STILL working on that? Mine was due today," Duo cut in. Trowa walked in the room and sat down on his bed.

"I'll help you, Duo," he offered, pulling out his own math homework. "And I meant to ask you guys if you were planning on doing any spring sports."

"Yeah, I wanna tryout for baseball," Duo replied, looking up from his paper with bright eyes. "I've always wanted to play!" Trowa smirked.

"Well, I picked up some spring sports registration forms, and it looks like we need to have physicals done if we want to play. Preventors can take care of the birth certificate part, but..." he trailed off. Both Heero and Duo stared at him.

"Physicals?" Duo asked.

"A doctor's appointment," Trowa answered slowly.

"A full-fledged doctor's appointment," Heero amended, "seeing as none of us have written records of them from before." Duo gulped.

"As in...as in shots and all?" he asked warily.

"...Among other things," Trowa replied casually. "We just have to set up an appointment with the hospital."

"You already did, didn't you?" Heero stated, more than asked.

"They're next Tuesday," Trowa answered sheepishly. "With Sally." Sally had been transferred to a base located on the outskirts of the town they were living in so that she could help take care of things for the group.

"Sally!" Duo exclaimed. "You're kidding!"

"It wasn't my idea, I didn't suggest it," Trowa said, immediately on the defense. Duo groaned.

"Aw man!"

"You'll get over it," Heero said, turning back to the computer. "Do your math." Still complaining, Duo looked at his book again. Outside in the hall, Quatre and Wufei looked at each other through wide eyes.

"You don't think he's telling the truth, do you?" Wufei asked worriedly. Quatre shrugged.

"It's Trowa, he doesn't usually lie..." He sighed. "I really want to do track though. I guess getting a physical done isn't THAT big a deal."

"But by Sally!" Wufei exclaimed quietly. Then, "You want to do TRACK?" Quatre nodded.

"Why? Got a problem with that?"

"...Lacrosse is a much better sport. It requires the strong to play it," Wufei declared. Quatre rolled his eyes.

"Were you guys going to come in?" came Duo's voice from inside the room. Quatre quickly shuffled into the room with Wufei behind him.

"Uh, hey guys," Quatre said meekly. They just sort looked up in greeting.

"So, Wufei, you wanna play lacrosse?" Duo asked.

"That's what I was thinking of trying out for," Trowa said as Wufei nodded.

"What about you Heero?" asked Quatre.

"Track," he replied with a glare at Wufei, daring him to say anything. "I was thinking of doing long distance running and... shot put or something."

"That's cool," Duo spoke up. "You'd probably beat them all in shot put." Heero shrugged, and a comfortable silence fell on the room.

"Oh, Heero," Quatre said suddenly, "The reason I came up here was to tell you that it's your turn to do the dishes." Heero blinked at the computer screen and growled slightly. One of the disadvantages of living on your own: you have to do ALL the chores. Laundry, dusting, cooking, dishes, EVERYTHING (A/N: Can't you just picture this? LOL ). Sally came over when she could to make sure they were all eating healthily and not living in a garbage bin, but the majority of the work was left to the boys. Sighing, Heero got up to get his job over with, leaving the others chuckling behind him.

& & &

Tuesday of the next week found the five teens being driven to the hospital by Sally, since none of them could drive yet. Well, they COULD, but not legally, as none of them actually had their license.

"When do spring tryouts start anyway?" Duo asked from his seat in the back.

"Not until the middle of March," Wufei replied grouchily. He was slouching in the passenger seat next to Sally.

"Then why are we getting physicals NOW?" asked Duo irritably.

"Why not?" Trowa shot back. Duo stuck out his tongue at him. Soon they arrived at their destination, and Sally herded them all into the waiting area. The former pilots were quiet as Sally got whatever papers they needed, and then they headed off to the examination area.

"Ok guys, we're going to start off with the basics: height, weight, vision, blood pressure, etc. Is there any order you want to go in? Or does it not matter?"

"By order of the Gundams, 01 - 05," Wufei said quickly.

"No way, alphabetically," Heero argued. The two glared at each other, until Quatre spoke up.

"I'll go first."

"Thank you, Quatre. The first part's a breeze, don't worry," Sally said, leading the blonde away. Trowa went after him, after hearing that there was nothing horrible that happened, and then Heero followed. He took a LITTLE longer than the others had.

"Ok, Heero, I need you to stand behind this line," Sally said, pointing to a piece of tape across the ground. He complied. "Good, now cover up your left eye and read the smallest line you can back to me from that chart over there." Heero looked to where she pointed, thinking it would be a cinch, but froze when he looked at all the small, blurry black...well, MARKS on the chart.

"Uhh..." he stuttered, blinking his eyes rapidly in an attempt to get them to focus better. It didn't help. Sally glanced up from her clipboard.

"Just read whatever you can," she said in a calm voice that still betrayed some of her shock. Heero just stared blankly at the wall.

"Well, the first line's an 'E'," he said sheepishly. Sally blinked.

"Um, can you read the second or third line?"

"The third is, um, 'A', wait no, 'V'? Damn it... The second line starts with a 'B', I can see that..." he trailed off and lowered his hand from his eye, glancing at Sally helplessly.

"That-that's ok, now try your left eye," she suggested. It wasn't any better than his right. "Well, heh, I don't know what to say, Heero. Being a Gundam pilot, I would have thought your sight was...better than that," she finished bluntly. Heero glared at her, but she held up her hands defensively. "Just telling you the truth. I guess all that staring at computers in the dead of the night finally caught up with you. Sorry, but you're going to have to get glasses, at least for school anyway." Heero's eyes widened.

"What? No way! Glasses, me?" he exclaimed. "My vision's fine, I just...uh..." he trailed off again, and then his shoulders slumped over. "Fine. Glasses. Whatever."

"We'll do a quick eye exam after your physical, that way you can get glasses right away. You can get contacts too, if you want." Heero just nodded, already walking back to the waiting room. "Send Wufei in next!" Sally called after him.

Heero entered the waiting area with a scowl on his face. "Wufei, you're next," he growled, jerking a thumb behind him. "And what the hell are you doing, Duo?" Duo looked up from his spot on the floor.

"Playing with these legos. They're pretty neat," he answered as Wufei walked back to where Sally was. "What's with you?" Heero turned his glare to Duo, who didn't look the least bit affected by it. Then he sighed and slouched in the uncomfortable chair he was sitting in. There was no point not telling them, they'd find out anyway.

"I have to get...glasses," Heero spat. All three of the others glanced up sharply.

"Glasses?" Quatre repeated. Heero nodded.

"I've been straining my eyes too much looking at damn computers. My eye sight sucks ass."

"I told you not to do that in the dark. And I've caught you READING with the lights off before too!" Trowa admonished.

"Shut up," Heero snapped. It was silent for the rest of the time Wufei was gone. Duo went in last, and after he passed the reading test with flying colors, easily reading the 20/20 line, Sally led him to another room.

"Ok, Duo, I'm just going to go ahead and do the rest of your physical now instead of having you go out there and then come back in again. It'll save us a little time." Duo's eyes widened slightly and he glanced at the door, looking as if he wanted to bolt. "Don't even think about it," Sally warned, glaring at the braided teen. He sighed and leaned back against the wall.

"What're you going to do?" he asked warily.

"I'M going to leave the room for a few minutes while YOU strip down to your boxers and put this on," Sally answered, throwing Duo a hospital gown.

"You want me to what!" Duo exclaimed, staring at Sally in shock. She sighed.

"All part of the procedure. Calm down!"

"I'm not gonna prance around half-naked in front of YOU!"

"If it makes you THAT uncomfortable to have someone you know, then I can always get you another person you DON'T know. Male or female?" Duo paled, thinking of what it would be like to have some stranger poking and prodding at him. And what if was some old guy? He shuddered.

"Ugh...fine," he grumbled. Sally smirked.

"Don't worry, Duo, it's nothing I haven't seen. I AM a doctor you know." Duo glared at her while his cheeks flushed a little red, before practically ripping his shirt off. "You could wait until I'm out of the room," Sally said amusedly.

"Why should I? You'll see everything anyway," Duo grumbled. He swiftly unzipped his pants and let them fall around his ankles, before smiling brightly. "Like my boxers? They've got chibi Deathscythes all over them!" Sally just shook her head lightly and directed Duo to the table in the middle of the room.

Sometime later, Duo made his way back to the waiting area sporting a Batman band-aid on his left arm, some white gauze on the inside of his right elbow, and a decidedly content look on his face as he sucked on a lollipop, while at the same time managing to look pretty embarrassed.

"What took you so long?" Heero grumbled, looking up from a magazine he was reading.

"Sally decided to go ahead and do the whole thing since I was already there. She said she's going in reverse order from there so, Wufei, you're next!" Duo said, smirking evilly at him. Wufei gulped. "Have fun, I doubt you'll ever be able to look her in the eyes again," he added as an afterthought, flushing slightly. Wufei sighed and reluctantly got to his feet.

"What's with the band-aid?" he asked. Duo pointed at his left shoulder.

"Shot," he pointed at the gauze, "blood drawn," he pulled the sucker out of his mouth, "and a tootsie pop for being such a good sport about it!" he finished, smiling widely. Wufei raised an eyebrow slightly, and walked off to the room Sally was in muttering about "braided bakas" and "onnas."

Within an hour and a half, the rest of the guys were done and the group piled into Sally's car again.

"I signed you all up for driver's ed.," Sally said to the unusually quiet teens, some of whom (:cough:Quatre :cough:) now had permanently red faces from embarrassment. The only reply she got was a few grunts. "I mean, there'll be a lot of other kids your age doing it too, so it should work out fine, and then you can finally get your licenses." Still no reply. "Guys! Come on, get over it! It was NOT that big a deal!" Duo scowled.

"Not for YOU maybe," he grumbled. Then he sighed. "When do we have lessons or whatever?"

"Every Monday from 2:30 to 5," Sally replied.

"How many classes?" Trowa asked.

"Five. Then, after you take the test, you get your permit, which you'll have for a minimum of four months and forty hours of driving."

"Sounds good," Quatre said.

"Yeah, it can't be too hard," Duo added.

"Your first class is in two weeks. Oh, and Heero, I'll pick up your glasses in, like three days or something and bring them by your house, ok?"

"Yuy's getting glasses?" Wufei asked, finally speaking up.

"Yeah, I told you that already," Heero said.

"No, Wufei wasn't in the room when you told us," said Duo. "He was with Sally."

"I have glasses," Wufei said. "But I only use them for reading." Heero perked up a little at that.

"Really? How come I've never seen you with them on?" Wufei shrugged.

"I didn't use them much during the war, but I'm starting to wear them again."

"I've only seen him in them once," Duo said. "But he happened to have his hair down at the same time, so I thought he was an intruder or something." Wufei glared at him.

"Speaking of hair," Sally spoke up, glancing over at Heero, who was now sitting in the front seat, and lifting up a lock of his hair. "You guys could probably get some hair cuts too. Just trims!" she quickly added, when they all glared at her, especially Heero, who instantly leaned away from her hands. "I mean, Duo, how long are you going to let that thing grow? I can't even imagine how bad your split ends must be." Duo looked slightly offended and started petting his braid. "Wufei, your hair's getting a bit too long too, I think. Some people might start mistaking you for a girl. And Trowa! If those bangs get any longer they'll cover your WHOLE face," she said, glancing at him through the rear-view mirror. He glared back at her. "As for Heero and Quatre, well, those mop-tops are looking a bit too shabby."

"Shabby?" Quatre asked, running a hand through his hair. "You really think so? I can't remember the last time I got it cut."

"Geez, Sally, who died and made you our mother?" Duo spat. "Wait, don't answer that."

"Well you need to have some sort of an adult figure around. Or who would drive you everywhere?" Sally smirked. Duo scowled at her.

"I'm beginning to seriously dislike this whole 'living normally' thing. A normal life sucks!" he cried.

"Aw, it's not THAT bad. I mean, don't you think it's neat to sort have a...a family type thing?" Sally asked. "You know, the five of you living together?" Duo blinked.

"Oh yes, a family, right. So, brother Quatre, what are we having for dinner tonight?" Duo asked sarcastically. Quatre smiled.

"Well gee, brother Duo, I don't know. It's brother Trowa's turn to cook tonight," he replied, chuckling a little. Sally started laughing.

"You guys are impossible," she stated, smiling to herself.

"We try," Duo said, examining his nails. Sally's laughing continued, and gradually all the tension disappeared from the car.

* * *

Part 2's up next...

-Maxine


	2. Part 2

A couple days later, Heero and Duo stood in front of the mirror in Duo's room, staring down at a small case in Heero's hands. 

"Come on, Heero, hurry up!" Duo said impatiently. "I want to see what they look like on you!" Sally had stopped by earlier to finally drop off Heero's glasses, but he had yet to put them on.

"Maybe we should wait until the others get back," Heero suggested, not wanting to put them on at all. Duo blew his bangs off his forehead exasperatedly.

"Heero, Trowa and Quatre won't be back from band and orchestra until 5, and Wufei's re-taking that chemistry test." Heero glanced up sharply.

"I thought he was tutoring someone?"

"Pfft, Wufei? Tutor someone? Do you REALLY believe that? Nah, he failed that chemistry thing last week, along with about half the class." Duo paused. "Maybe he didn't want you to know...oops."

"Does he have Miller?"

"Yep. He's in my class."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that test. How'd you do?" Duo smiled widely.

"I aced it," he said proudly. "I actually understand that stuff. Chemistry's my thing, man."

"Well math obviously isn't," Heero said lowly.

"Hey! Excuse me for not being Mr. Math Wiz like you over there."

"Algebra's easy. It's 'my thing,'" Heero said sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah. Ha ha." Duo pulled a chair out from the desk he was standing near and straddled it. "So, you gonna try those on or not?"

"Hn...maybe," Heero replied. He unconsciously reached down to pull his pants up since they'd started to fall of his hips. He scowled. "I can't stand these American styles," he said, growling at the way too baggy pants.

"Those pants are a hell of a lot better than those ass-tight jeans you and Trowa used to wear. And Quatre and Wufei have finally gotten out of their little fashion slumps too. Plus, you're supposed to wear a belt," Duo pointed out.

"Well, these aren't mine. Mine fit me better." Duo raised an eyebrow at the black jeans he had on.

"Then...whose are they?" Heero flushed slightly.

"Uh, they're yours," he replied sheepishly.

"Mine!"

"Well, my pants were all dirty and Trowa was in our room so I couldn't take a pair of his or Wufei's. You and Quatre were both downstairs so I just...borrowed a pair," he said defensively. Duo chuckled.

"I THOUGHT they looked familiar. They look better with these chains though," he said, gesturing to the dog chain hanging from his pants.

"I sure hope you don't go Goth on us with those things," Heero said, glancing at the braided teen out of the corner of his eye. Duo waved him off.

"Nah, I just like wearing the one chain. I was thinking about getting my ear pierced though," he added casually. Heero's eyes widened a little.

"Seriously?"

"Mhmm."

"...Cool."

"Would you do it with me?" Duo asked eagerly. Heero shrugged.

"I dunno. Maybe. Trowa probably would. I overheard him talking about with someone at school."

"I'll ask him then." Duo held out his hand. "Can I see that case?" he asked, gesturing to the glasses case in Heero's hand. Heero tossed it to him. Duo opened it up and pulled the slender framed glasses out. "Did you pick out the frames?"

"Yeah." Duo nodded.

"They're nice." He put them on over his own eyes, and had to blink several times before pulling them off again. "Well, I was going to see how I looked in them, but everything is one big blur when I look through them. Your eyesight IS terrible, Yuy."

"Shut up," Heero snapped, glaring at Duo. Duo smirked back, and handed the glasses to him.

"Put 'em on." Heero sighed and reluctantly slid them on. He didn't give Duo the chance to see him in them because he quickly turned back to the mirror. Heero blinked. They actually...didn't look that bad. The frames were really thin-wired and were a gold color. The lenses were small and oval-shaped, covering little of his face besides his eyes. "Lemme see!" Duo cried, jumping out of the seat. Heero turned to him, and it was quiet for a second as Duo scrutinized his appearance. "Aw, I'm jealous," he said finally. "They actually look good on you. You look...sophisticated or something. Very suave." Heero smirked.

"Yeah, I have to admit, they don't look as bad as I'd thought they would." He looked back at his reflection.

"I wonder what the others will think," Duo said thoughtfully. "Do they really help?" Heero nodded.

"Uh-huh. Now I can actually see where the socket is on the wall over there." He pointed to the wall beside the door.

"You couldn't see that before!" Duo exclaimed.

"It blended in with the wall!" Heero said defensively. Duo just shook his head and chuckled.

& & &

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Duo mumbled on his way to school one morning. Heero, who was walking beside him, raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"What's up?" he asked. Duo ran a hand through his bangs.

"I just remembered that we get our...our report cards today," he said, looking extremely worried. Behind the pair, Quatre spoke up.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I wonder what I got in Government..." he said thoughtfully. Wufei and Trowa remained silent.

"All I know is that I already had a really low B in math, but then I, uh, failed that last quiz, and got a C on the test..." Duo trailed off. Quatre shook his head slightly.

"Math just isn't your subject, huh Duo?"

"Not at all. But it's not just...MATH. It's Algebra II HONORS. That class is freakin' hard!"

"I'm in Algebra II honors," Heero said. "And I have an A."

"Shut up," Duo snapped, glaring at the blue-eyed teen. "You and your dumb glasses...think you're all smart now..." he grumbled.

"Well, look on the bright side, Duo," Wufei spoke up. "At least today's Friday."

"Yeah, and next Wednesday's the day you get your permit, if you pass the test," Trowa added.

"Plus, you've already made the baseball team, so it's not like they can kick you off," Wufei spoke again. Duo nodded.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. But still..."

"Oh, don't worry so much. I'm sure you did fine," Quatre assured. "And there's always next quarter. Then the finals, and if you do well both those times, you'll still have a good final average."

"Hmm..."

"Oh, and speaking of driving permits," Heero said suddenly. "My test's today, so I won't be at practice, ok Quatre?" Quatre nodded.

"Yeah. I'll tell them for you, and then you have to tell them when I'm gone on Monday."

"Alright."

"Hey Duo, isn't your first game next Thursday?" Wufei asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah it is. Then we have an away game next Monday, and another home game the Wednesday after that."

"I think I'll stick around after lacrosse to watch," Wufei said, pulling his planner out of his backpack. "Yeah, we don't have a game that day."

"When IS your first game?" Duo asked.

"Uh..." Wufei started flipping through the pages in his notebook.

"It's Wednesday, the day of your driving test," Trowa spoke up.

"Aww, I won't be able to go!"

"Don't worry about it, there's plenty more games." Trowa paused. "But if you really want to make it up, you can go to the concert on the 23rd," he said casually. Quatre perked up when he said that.

"Yeah! The orchestra sounds REALLY good! And I have a solo! You should come!" he said excitedly.

"The band sounds better," Trowa said.

"Heh, not really," Quatre threw back.

"You know it does, you just don't want to admit it."

"Whatever, Trowa."

"Isn't that a Friday?" Duo cut it. Trowa paused.

"Yeah, it is," he answered.

"Then I'll be there. And I KNOW Wufei and Heero would LOVE to go too, right?" Heero and Wufei looked at each other.

"Sure, why not. What better way to spend my Friday night then at a Band Concert," Wufei said semi-sarcastically.

"What do you ever do on Friday's besides sitting at home in front of the T.V. anyway?" Heero asked. Wufei glared at him.

"Yeah, Wu-man, it's not like you ever go out," Duo teased.

"Oh, and since we've moved here, you have?" Wufei snapped.

"Uh, well...er..." Duo stuttered,

"That's what I thought," Wufei said smugly. Duo crossed his arms and sulked the rest of the way to the bus stop.

Later that day, Duo, Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre finally returned home from school to find Heero watching T.V. with a small, but uncharacteristic smile across his face.

"Hey, Heero. Whatcha watchin'?" Duo asked plopping down on the couch. Heero's smile was promptly erased from his face when he noticed the others were home.

"Just flipping through the channels," he replied dully.

"What were you smiling about?" Quatre asked curiously.

"Smiling?" Heero blinked. "I wasn't smiling."

"But I saw-"

"I. Wasn't. Smiling."

"O-oh. Heh, right..."

"I have a lot of things to tell you though," Heero said, sitting up as he remembered. "One, Preventors is loaning us a car since we're getting our permits. However, unlike food and clothes and everything else, we have to pay for the gas money out of our own pocket, meaning we should probably get jobs. Two, I get to be the first to drive the car since I passed the test today and got my permit." The smile appeared on his face again when he said this. "Three, I ordered pizza for dinner. And four, Trowa, some girl named Carrie called you about three times," he continued, ticking the things off on his fingers. Several things happened at once.

"Oh, sugoi! We get a car! Awesome!" Duo exclaimed, punching the air. "Do you know what type?"

"Congratulations on getting your permit, Heero," Quatre said, smiling.

"What do you mean we have to get a job!" Wufei cried. "We COULD have had one already if they didn't make that new law! INJUSTICE!"

"Uh..." Trowa coughed as he blushed bright red. "Did she give you her number?" Heero sighed.

"Ok, no, I don't know what type of car, thank you Quatre, yes it's an injustice we have to get a job, but if YOU want to drive the car at ALL then you'll have to work, and Trowa...her number's on the fridge." Heero said, jutting his thumb over his shoulder at the last part. Trowa nodded and walked off in the direction of the kitchen.

"We get a car, we get a car, we get a car..." Duo chanted quietly to himself. Quatre smiled at him and sat down the other end of the couch, dropping his backpack on the floor.

"Where do you think we should work?" Wufei asked, staring thoughtfully into space.

"Uh, well..." Quatre reached down to tie one of his shoelaces that had come undone. "I could use some of savings to pay for gas," he suggested, "since we're all doing sports and stuff." Duo stopped his chanting abruptly.

"Now THERE'S an idea," he said brightly.

"Maxwell, we can't just rob Quatre of his money every time we need it for something. We're perfectly capable of finding a job."

"But Wu-man-"

"DON'T call me that."

"DON'T interrupt me," Duo spat back. "But as I was saying, we wouldn't be robbing him of his money. He offered! And we could always pay him back in...two years. Or we could get jobs over the summer, and he wouldn't have to pay for gas money until school started again. Yeah, that would work! We could work as...lifeguards. There's plenty of pools around."

"Yeah, plenty of girls too," Heero added lowly. "That's what YOU'RE thinking." Duo smiled sheepishly.

"I don't want to work at a POOL!" Wufei shouted.

"Then you could work at a McDonald's or something," Duo suggested. Wufei looked horrified at the thought.

"We'll do that then, for a few months anyway. Are you sure it's ok Quatre?" Heero asked. Quatre eyed him oddly.

"I'm a millionaire, remember? Of course it's ok." It was quiet for a few minutes, save Trowa's talking in the background.

"He sure is talking a lot," Duo said suddenly. "And to a GIRL. I wonder who she is?"

"Carrie," Heero answered. "That's what she said her name was."

"...That doesn't help me any, Heero. Do you know how many 'Carries' there probably are in our school?"

"How many?" Trowa asked walking into the room. Duo jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Yo, T! Who's the girl, huh?" Duo raised his eyebrows suggestively. Trowa blinked at the "T" part, but ignored the eyebrows.

"She's in some of my classes, math one of them, and she needed help on her homework," he replied lamely. Duo's face fell.

"WHATever," he said, turning back around.

"Speaking of math," Wufei began, glancing at Duo out of the corner of his eye. "What'd you get on your report card?" he asked. Duo glared at him.

"Oh shut up, Wufei. Or would you like to compare Chemistry grades with everyone?" he replied smugly. Wufei scowled.

"I got an A in both those classes," Heero said casually. Both Duo and Wufei turned their glares on him.

"Shut up!" they snapped. Heero just shrugged.

"How you do in English, Heero?" Quatre asked innocently. Heero's eyes hardened.

"Quatre..." he warned.

"I was just asking."

"You're in my class."

"...Oh yeaaah. My bad!" Quatre said overdramatically.

"Wait, hey, what'd you get? Huh, Heero? I wanna know!" Duo said, bouncing up and down eagerly. Wufei sighed, and then started imitating Duo.

"Yeah, yeah Heero! Tell us!" he pleaded. He shared a quick look with Duo before they both exclaimed, "PLEEEAAASSE?"

"Ack, Wufei, stop. Duo's bad enough," Trowa said, backing up a step.

"I got an 82.3," Heero said bluntly. Duo and Wufei stopped their antics abruptly.

"Wow, now I don't feel so bad," Wufei said, smiling lightly. "I had an 83.4 in Chemistry." Duo frowned.

"Aww, am I the only one who got a C in something?" he asked dejectedly. "Damn. Well, I had a 74.8 in Algebra."

"That's not too bad, Duo," Quatre said kindly. "I had an 88 in Government." He glanced at Trowa.

"Uh...I had all A's," he said sheepishly. The other four in the room glared at him, but he raised his hands defensively. "It's not my fault I study."

"You think I don't study!" Duo cried. "Shit, man. I had a B in Spanish too, AND in English. But that was an 89. I aced Chemistry and Government though, and totally blew everyone away in computer and gym."

"Well, gym was easy," Quatre said.

"I had a B in Spanish too," Wufei said, frowning.

"Same," came Heero's voice. "A high B, but a B." They all glanced at Trowa again, who gulped.

"Uh, I'm fluent in Spanish," he said. "But I took French remember? And I already told you I got all A's."

"Oh yeah. Hey Quat, you took French too, right?" Duo asked.

"Yeah," Quatre replied. "Trowa and I have the same teacher, but we're in different classes."

"Quatre's name is four in French," Trowa said. "I thought that was kind of interesting." Quatre smiled.

"Yeah, I was 04, and my name means four. Weird, huh?"

"I think it's pretty cool," Duo said, though he wasn't really paying attention. "Hey, Trowa, does this Carrie girl have really light brown hair? Sort of wavy?" Trowa blinked.

"Yeah..." he replied slowly. "She's kind of short-"

"But figured proportionally?" Trowa blushed lightly.

"Uh, yeah," he coughed. Duo smiled brightly.

"She's in my English class!" he exclaimed. "I just remembered her. She plays softball."

"Does she? I didn't know."

"Yeah, she plays first base."

"Cool."

"Hey, Duo. Whatever happened to Hilde?" Quatre asked suddenly. Duo blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...wasn't she upset when you left?" Duo scratched his head.

"Well, she didn't want to go back to living alone, so, yeah, she was a little upset, but..." Duo trailed off, and then realization hit him. "Oh! Quat, we weren't going out or anything, if that's what you're getting at."

"Oh..." Quatre smiled a little. "Yeah, actually, that's what I was wondering."

"You two weren't together?" Heero asked, a little surprised. "I could have sworn you were..." Duo shook his head.

"Nope, never. She was a great friend though. I still write to her on e-mail. What about you? When's the last time you talked to your princess over in Europe?" Duo teased. Despite himself, Heero blushed a little.

"I haven't talked to her since we left," he said, glaring at the braided teen.

"You're pathetic," Duo said, laughing.

"Shut up," Heero growled, crossing his arms and sulking in his seat. Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre looked at each other, wondering if they'd missed something. Duo noticed their blank stares, and immediately took the opportunity to voice what he'd been getting at.

"When Heero was staying at my house after the whole Mariemaia thing, he admitted to me that-" Duo was abruptly cut off as Heero lunged at him, causing him to land on his back on the couch. Heero clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Say ANYthing, and die," he said warningly. Duo rolled his eyes up at him.

"Mmmmph mm mmph mmppph!" Duo mumbled through Heero's hand.

"Wait, I want to hear what he has to say!" Quatre said eagerly. He leaned over and tried to pry Heero's hand away from Duo. He was quite unsuccessful. Heero reached for his gun, only to discover it wasn't there.

"We don't carry around guns anymore, remember Heero?" Trowa asked amusedly.

"You guys! Help!" Quatre said from his spot near Heero. Trowa sighed and reluctantly walked over. After discovering that grabbing his arm wouldn't work, he tried wrapping his arms around Heero's waist and pulling. Heero still wouldn't budge. While all this was going on, Wufei calmly walked over and pulled Heero's report card out of his bag to read over the comments.

"Whoa, am I interrupting anything?" a new voice said. Wufei's head shot up.

"Woman, what are YOU doing here?"

"Oh, Sally!" Quatre shouted before she could answer. "Duo was about to tell us something Heero said about Relena, but Heero won't let him say it, and now we can't get his hand off of Duo's mouth," he explained quickly. Sally raised an eyebrow as she stared in amusement at the scene in front of her.

"Well, have you tried tickling him?" she asked. Heero's eyes snapped wide open, and everyone else in the room paused. "Yeah, I found that out during his physical," Sally went on, not noticing the sudden quietness of the room. Though you couldn't see it, Duo began to smirk evilly beneath Heero's hand.

"Sally!" Heero yelled, horrified at what she had just said. She blinked.

"Oh, uh, oops?" Without wasting another second, Duo pushed himself up, sending a startled Heero onto his back on the couch.

"Get him!" Duo cried. He began tickling Heero's sides, not surprised in the least when Heero burst out laughing. Soon Quatre joined him, while Trowa and Wufei just looked on.

"D-Duo! S-st-stop, damn it! C-can't breathe...anym-more," Heero choked out. Duo finally sat back on his heels, and Quatre pulled back to look down at the brown-haired teen who was currently attempting to catch his breath.

"Sally," he growled, when he could finally breathe normally again.

"Yes?" she replied innocently. Heero grumbled something incoherently, and Sally didn't bother asking him what he'd said. She was watching Duo whisper something to Quatre.

"What!" Quatre exclaimed, drawing back from Duo in shock. "He said THAT!" Duo nodded solemnly.

"Duo..." Heero said, sounding something akin to hurt.

"Heero, I can't believe you said that about her!" Quatre was still ranting. Heero blinked. He hadn't said anything bad about her... Heero glanced at Duo questioningly. The cheerful teen had been expecting it, and winked at him, letting a smirk grace his face. Heero felt a small smile cross his face too, and he nodded thankfully. Trowa caught the small exchange, as did Sally. Wufei on the other hand...

"What'd he say?" Wufei asked Quatre. "Spit it out already!" Quatre looked up wide-eyed.

"You don't want to know," he replied, before glaring at Heero.

"It wasn't THAT bad," Duo said.

"It was MEAN!" Quatre threw back. Heero ran a hand through his hair.

"What'd you tell him?" he asked Duo quietly. Quatre paused.

"Oh, ha! As if you don't know!" Heero glared at the blonde to shut him up.

"Quatre," Trowa said gently, "I think Duo just told you that so you'd have an answer. I doubt that Heero actually said something mean about Relena." Quatre blinked.

"You mean you lied?" he cried, turning on Duo.

"Hey, I may run and hide, but I NEVER lie!" Duo said, annoyed at him having even thought that.

"Wait, Duo, then what did you tell him?" Heero asked, now thoroughly confused. Duo smiled.

"Oh, I just told him what you said to me a LONG time ago. You know, when I got you out of that hospital? Sally was there!" he said, suddenly remembering that fact. Heero paled slightly.

"You told him THAT?" he said, a little nervously. "I'd only met her the one time before that, and then she followed me to the docks. She was annoying! Was I supposed to like her then?" he said, trying to defend himself.

"So you DID say it!" Quatre exclaimed, and then paused. "Wait, are you saying you like her NOW?" he asked mischievously. Heero paused.

"D-did I say that?" he asked, his voice a little too high. Clearing his throat, he continued monotonously, "Because I certainly don't." Quatre rolled his eyes, his previous tantrum over.

"Sure, Heero."

"Duo tries hard in class, and constantly works to achieve his best?" Wufei said suddenly, interrupting everything else. "If he works so hard, then why does he have a C?" he continued to mutter. He gradually became aware of the silence around him, and looked up to find everyone staring at him oddly. "Uh...yes?"

"Are you reading my report card again?" Duo asked, annoyed. "I already showed it you."

"Yeah, apparently I missed that part, because I don't remember it."

"Um, guys? I'm feeling forgotten over here," Sally spoke up, waving a hand to get their attention. "Don't you want to know why I'm here?"

"Oh yeah, why ARE you here?" Duo asked. Sally smirked.

"I brought your new car over."

There was suddenly a mad scramble for the door.

* * *

This fic amuses me, lol. :sweatdrop: Part 3 will be posted soon!

-Maxine


	3. Part 3

(A/N: Watch out for the profanity towards the middle in this part.) 

"Hey, do you guys know where Heero is?" Trowa asked, walking into the living room where the others were. It was the following Friday, finally Trowa's turn to take the driving permit test.

"He and Duo went grocery shopping. They said they'd be back in time to take you," Quatre replied, not looking up from his chess game with Wufei.

"Grocery shopping?" Trowa repeated faintly.

"Yeah, they actually offered to do it," Wufei said, moving one of his bishops. Trowa rolled his eyes.

"They just like driving that car."

"I like driving that car too, but I hardly ever get the chance too," Wufei complained. At that moment, the front door swung open.

"Damn it, Heero! You drove back from the store. I'M driving Trowa to the school! You can drive on the way back."

"Trowa's gonna want to drive on the way back," came Heero's voice, as he and Duo appeared in the doorway. He nodded in greeting, his arms full of bags. "Groceries are in the kitchen, you guys can put them away. Trowa, come on," he said, disappearing into the kitchen. He returned with his arms empty.

"Good luck, Trowa!" Quatre called after them. Trowa waved without turning around.

"Where'd that baka go?" Heero asked, looking around to see if he could spot Duo. Suddenly a horn honked at them.

"Are you guys coming or not!" Duo yelled at them. The two on the steps looked towards the sleek, silver Mercedes parked on the street, in which Duo was currently sitting in the driver's seat. Heero's eyes narrowed, but he grudgingly walked down and climbed in the front seat, ignoring Duo's triumphant smile. Trowa got in the back.

"So, you ready, Trowa?" Duo asked cheerfully, pulling out and just barely missing a blue van that had been plundering down the road.

"Yeah, I think so. How hard can it be?" Trowa replied, lurching forward in his seat when Duo screeched to a stop at a red light. "I mean YOU passed."

"Hey!" Duo cried defensively. "I did well that day."

"They almost failed Wufei," Heero spoke up. "He knocked down almost every cone."

"I've driven before though. I know what I'm doing."

Some thirty minutes later, Trowa found it was not as easy as he thought. He swerved in between the cones, knocking down all but two of them. Duo and Heero watched through wide eyes.

"Uh, let's go get something to eat," Duo suggested, tearing his eyes away from the scene in front of him. "I don't want to watch him parallel park." Heero nodded.

"For once, I agree with you," he said, and the two walked off towards some vending machines in the distance. When they returned, they found the driving instructor yelling angrily into his cell phone, while Trowa stood off to the side, staring at a big dent in the fence beside the parking lot. Duo's eyes widened.

"Hey Heero, is it just me, or does the dent in that fence look suspiciously like the front of Tanker's car? And it definitely was not there before." Heero looked from the front of the car to the fence, and then back again. He smirked a little and began to chuckle.

"For the second time today, I agree with you," he said, taking a sip of his drink. The two walked to where Trowa was standing. They noticed he looked a bit nervous.

"Yo, Trowa, what happened man?" Duo asked, surveying the damage. Trowa snapped his head around to look at them, and blushed a little.

"Uh, I kind of drove the car into the fence," he said sheepishly. Heero's eyes widened and Duo burst out laughing.

"You drove into the fence!" he cried, laughing hysterically.

"It wasn't my fault," Trowa snapped, his eyes narrowing. "I was trying to park, but this water bottle he had been drinking out of had rolled under the breaks, so when I tried to stop, the car just kept going. I thought maybe I was pressing the gas, so I switched my foot to the gas pedal...and drove right into the fence..." Heero raised an eyebrow. Duo continued laughing. (A/N: This actually happened to one of my friends and now there's a dent in the fence in front of my school that looks exactly like the front of his car. I'm not supposed to tell anyone about it, hehe.)

"So...you drove right over the curb and sidewalk and into the fence, huh?" Heero asked. He began to laugh a little with Duo. "I'm surprised, Trowa. That's so unlike you. Everyone's going to be talking about that dent on Monday."

"They don't have to know it was me," Trowa said warningly. Heero rolled his eyes.

"Who's Tanker talking to?" Duo asked, recovering from his laugh attack.

"Uh, his insurance agency," Trowa replied. Duo started to laugh again, but before he got too overwhelmed, the instructor walked over.

"I'm sorry, Trowa," he said, not sounding very sorry at all, "but I can't pass you today. You can try again next Friday, after you attend another class. I expect to see you on Monday." With that, he briskly walked off without bothering to say goodbye. Trowa stared wide-eyed at his retreating back.

"I failed my driving test?" he asked unbelievingly. "But it wasn't my fault!"

"I don't know, Trowa," Duo said, taking a swig of his coke. "I mean, you did knock over all those cones over there," he continued, gesturing to the parking lot where the cones still lay scattered around. Trowa blushed again. Shoving his hands in his pocket, he started back towards the car.

"I'm driving," Heero announced, following the sulking teen.

"Aw, damn it," Duo muttered. He finished off his drink and tossed it into a trashcan nearby before quickly rushing to catch up. "Hey, Heero," he said, climbing into the back, since Trowa had taken the front. Heero glance at him through the rearview mirror. "Can we stop at that place we saw on our way to the store? Lots o'...something or other?" Heero blinked, and then recognition showed in his eyes.

"Oh, yeah sure," he replied. He took a sharp right, ignoring the angry honks he was getting. "Almost missed the turn..." he muttered. They drove a little further before pulling into the parking lot of a small shop.

"And WHAT exactly are you going to do here?" Trowa asked, getting out of the car.

"Duo's getting his ear pierced."

"Yep, I finally made up my mind! Um...anyone wanna do it with me?"

"Nah, I decided I didn't want my ear pierced," Heero said entering the shop.

"I will," Trowa said. He walked over to the display case that held a bunch of earring studs.

"Guys, can I help you?" a punky teen asked from behind the cash register. She looked as if she'd been used to experiment all the places you could get pierced, and had neon green hair. The three former pilots blinked at her appearance.

"Um...yeah, we want our ears pierced," Duo said, gesturing to himself and Trowa. The girl looked at them.

"The right ear?" she asked dully. Heero snorted.

"The left," Duo said lowly. The girl shrugged.

"Follow me." Fifteen minutes alter, the three walked out of the shop again.

"Shit," Duo moaned, holding his ear. "That hurt like a bitch."

"It wasn't that bad, Duo," Trowa said, examining his ear in the car mirror as they drove out of the parking lot. He'd gotten a gold stud.

"Yeah, but it stung. And now my ear's all red." He leaned over Trowa's seat to get a look at the silver stud in his ear. It matched the cross he always wore.

"Duo, sit down! I can't see out the back," Heero commanded. Duo promptly fell back in his seat.

"I wonder what the others will think?" he said thoughtfully.

(Fast forward to when they get home.)

Quatre and Wufei gaped at the two in front of them. "You got your ear pierced?" Quatre asked unbelievingly. Wufei shrugged.

"I think it looks good," he said. "Oh, and Trowa, Carrie called again."

"Again? Trowa, what are you not telling us?" Duo teased.

"Yeah, does she need more help on her homework?" Quatre drawled. Trowa glared at them both before going off to call the said girl.

Later that night, the five were watching T.V. Quatre and Wufei had both heard of Trowa's failing his driving test, and were done teasing him about it for a while. Duo idly flipped through the channels, looking for anything that caught his eye. He eventually stopped on a Major League Baseball game, which caused him to remember something.

"Hey, you all gotta come to my game on Wednesday. We're playing Dunwall," he said, chomping on a piece of gum.

"Oh man, they beat the crap out of us," Wufei said, looking towards Trowa.

"Yeah, but that was on their home field. We'll beat them when they come here," he replied, crossing his arms.

"They're like, our major rivals, right?" Quatre asked.

"Yep, and we're gonna kill 'em in baseball. We don't suck like the lacrosse team over there," Duo said jokingly.

"We don't suck," Wufei said irritably, not thinking it was funny at all.

"Oh, lighten up Wu-man."

"Quatre and I can't go," Heero said from his spot on the floor. "We have a track meet that day."

"Aww. Well, that's ok."

"We'll go to the next game, ok Duo?" Quatre asked.

"Yeah, that's fine. Don't worry; I don't care if you don't go to all my games. I certainly won't be going to all of your track meets," Duo said cheerfully.

"Speaking of track," Trowa said, "has anyone beaten you yet Heero?" Heero smirked.

"In what?"

"In...anything."

"Nope." His smirk widened. "The closest anyone has come in shot put is at least five feet behind me, and no one stands a chance in the running events."

"Wow, may I introduce you all to Mr. Cocky over here," Duo said sarcastically. Heero paused in the act of cleaning his glasses and shot a glare at Duo, who in return stuck out his tongue.

"Oh, THAT'S mature," Heero mumbled, placing his glasses back on.

"I wasn't trying to be mature," Duo shot back.

"You have to TRY to be mature? Is it really that difficult for you?" Wufei asked.

"Oh, ha ha. Veeeery funny, Chang!" Duo growled. "We'll see who's laughing when we beat Dunwall."

& & & &

"I CAN'T believe we LOST to Dunwall!" Duo, Trowa, and Wufei were walking back to their car after Duo's baseball game the following Wednesday.

"Serves you right. The whole team went out there thinking you were going to win, and you played terrible," Trowa said, licking an ice cream cone he'd bought.

"I didn't do that bad!" Duo exclaimed. Trowa looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Ok, so I missed a few easy catches...and I struck out once, wait no, twice...ok fine, I sucked."

"I wasn't just referring to you though," Trowa replied.

"Yeah, that Brian kid, number 24, HE didn't do ANYTHING to help you all out," Wufei spoke up.

"I can't stand him. He's really annoying," Duo said, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah well, this is only the first time you played them. You can beat them next time, on THEIR home field," said Trowa, as he tossed the rest of his cone into a trashcan. Duo smiled evilly.

"Hell yeah. I can't wait! We'll beat the shit out of those stupid 'Dragons'!"

"Hey Trowa," Wufei said, as they neared the car. Trowa glanced up at him. "Wanna drive us home?" he asked, dangling the keys in front of Trowa's face. The green-eyed teen narrowed his eyes.

"Ouch, low blow, Wufei," Duo said, laughing and Trowa's expense.

"Yeah, I know," he replied, getting into the driver's seat.

"NEXT week I'll drive us home," Trowa said, walking to the other side of the car.

"Shotgun!" Duo yelled, just as Trowa was opening the door to the passenger side. Grumbling, Trowa climbed into the back of the car as Duo hopped into the front, and sat sulking to himself. Just as they were circling around the school to leave, Duo exclaimed, "Wait, hold up, Wufei!" Wufei screeched to a halt and looked questioningly at the boy beside him. Duo pointed out his window to a large crowd by the track. "The track meet," he explained. "It's still going on. We should watch some of it."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Wufei said, looking for a parking space. He found one, and the three walked over to join the rest of the crowd and look for their friends.

"There they are," Trowa said, pointing to a smaller crowd by the throwing ring. They could see Quatre standing off to the side and cheering.

"Quatre!" Duo called, as they neared the blonde. He turned and smiled at them.

"Hey guys!" he said cheerfully. "Heero's just getting ready to do his last throw. See that guy over there?" He pointed to a guy that had to be at least 6' 6" and looked like he was made of all muscle. Duo and the others nodded. "He beat Heero's second throw by almost a foot!"

"Are you serious? He's HUGE! No wonder," Duo said, gaping at the large teen.

"He's a senior though," Quatre said.

"And he's a helluva lot bigger than Heero," Wufei mumbled. Trowa nodded in agreement. Just then, Heero stepped into the ring, holding the shot put.

"Come on, you got it Heero!" Quatre began cheering.

"YEAH HEERO!" Duo yelled, actually getting the Japanese teen's attention, and causing him to look towards them. Duo began waving wildly, and Heero's eyes widened a little, before he smirked.

"Come on, Yuy! Be strong!" Heh, guess who said that.

"You've got this, Heero!" Trowa shouted. Heero turned back around and cradled the shot put in the crook between his neck and shoulder. He stood, concentrating for about five seconds, before he bent over and got into position. He took a small jump backwards and then swung around, throwing off all his weight into the push that would move the shot put. Then, with a loud grunt, he did just that, sending the shot put hurdling through the air. After waiting for it to land a good distance away, Heero stepped out of the ring and waited for his results.

"Wow," Duo breathed.

"I don't know if that was far enough," Quatre whispered to no one in particular. The tall guy from the other team had the decency to looked a little worried though.

"Forty-five, three and a half!" the man who had been measuring the distance announced. Heero's eyes widened, and he turned around abruptly and kicked at the ground.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed. From where he was, Quatre's face fell.

"Aw, he was two inches short!"

"Forty-five FEET! That's incredible!" Wufei said. Heero stomped over to the group, looking very pissed off.

"Let's go," he growled. "Quatre and I still have two events left."

"Heero, that was your farthest throw yet!" Quatre said, falling in step with Heero.

"Yeah, but it wasn't far enough."

"Well, at least you have something to aim for," Trowa said. Heero paused mid-step.

"True," he said, and then abruptly turned around and walked back the way they had just come. The other four stayed where they were and watched, speechless, as Heero and his opponent shook hands and smiled at each other. Well, Heero just kind of smirked, the other guy smiled. "Ok, let's go now," Heero said when he got back to where the others were. Trowa, Wufei, and Duo stayed and watched Quatre get second in the 400-meter and Heero blow everyone else away in the 3200-meter before the five of them headed home.

& & & &

Some two weeks later, Heero, Wufei, and Quatre sat in the stands surrounding the baseball field, watching one of Duo's games. Trowa had had to tutor Carrie in math that day, so he wasn't able to make it. It was a shame too, because it was probably one of the most eventful games of the season thus far. They were playing the Green County Gators, not one of their school's rivals, but definitely one of the better teams in the league. And surprisingly enough, the Cougars were actually up by one as they entered the last inning.

'Ok, Duo, play smart now,' Duo thought to himself as they took the field. The Gators were batting first. Stationing himself at second base, he straightened his cap over his head and opened and closed his glove a few times. If they got three outs before the other team scored, then they would automatically win and not have to worry about going up to bat again. Duo sighed nervously and crouched down slightly, ready for any ball hit towards him. The first hit went flying over his head, and a person in the outfield caught it, giving them one out before the Gators even got a person on base. That was good. Duo smirked, feeling less nervous by the minute.

"Oh, I hope they win," Quatre commented from the stands. "They haven't been doing that well lately." Heero shrugged.

"They've won their last two games Quatre."

"But they lost THREE before that," Wufei reminded him.

"Oh yeah..."

"Hey! Wufei, Quatre, Heero!" someone yelled up at them. The three glanced down to the bottom of the stands, slightly surprised to see Sally standing there, waving at them enthusiastically.

"Sally!" Quatre waved back. "Come on up!" He patted the space next to him.

"Thank you, Quatre," Sally said as she set her purse on the bench and sat down. "I decided to play the part of 'legal guardian' or whatever and come watch the game. Of course, it seems I missed most of it..."

"You got here for the good part," Heero said, offering her some popcorn.

"Oh thanks. Yeah, I heard some kids talking about how we're only up by one or something."

"Sally, can I ask you a question?" Quatre asked, sipping from his drink.

"You just did, but yeah, shoot." Quatre paused.

"...How old are you?" Sally looked slightly surprised at the question, and Heero and Wufei both shot him curious looks.

"You're not supposed to ask a woman how old they are, Quatre," Wufei said.

"No, it's ok. It's not like I'm forty or something. I'm nineteen, Quatre. Three years older then you guys," Sally answered, smiling at the blonde. Quatre nodded, and opened his mouth again when Sally cut him off. "And before you ask, yes I have a high school diploma. I graduated when I was seventeen. My parents put me in school early."

"But you're not even of legal drinking age yet, and they have you as our legal guardian. Is that even possible?"

"Hm...well," she paused as she saw Wufei's Mountain Dew. "Ooh, Wufei, can I have a sip of that? I'm dying over here." Wufei reluctantly handed over the quarter full bottle.

"You can have the rest," he said.

"What, you don't wanna drink after me?" Sally asked, smirking.

"How ever did you figure that out?" Wufei retorted sarcastically. Sally chuckled.

"Well, anyway. If you really want to know, Quatre, Lady Une is actually your REAL legal guardian, for now anyway. I'm kind of her representative for Preventors or something. It's confusing, and I don't feel like explaining the legal issues to you right now. I'm the one that's here to sign all your permission slips and whatnot, but she's your 'adoptive mother,'" Sally finished cheerfully. Wufei blanched.

"Lady Une, our adoptive mother?" he muttered.

"Do we get to call her 'mommy' when we finally work at Preventors?" Heero asked sarcastically. Sally laughed.

"You could if you really wanted to. She'd probably fire your ass REALLY fast though. It was hard enough for her to get used to Mariemaia calling her 'mom.'"

"She's calls her that now?" Quatre asked. Sally nodded.

"She's actually not too bad a kid if you get to know her."

"You mean when she's not trying to take over the whole Earth Sphere?" Wufei asked casually.

"Wufei, you were one of her soldiers, so you can't really talk," Heero reminded him.

"Hn."

"HEEEERRROOOOOO!" a girl's voice suddenly screamed out, causing everyone around their group to look at them.

"Oh God," Heero muttered, quickly looking for an escape route.

"That sounded suspiciously like Relena," Wufei mused, though he knew it wasn't.

"No, if it were Relena, Heero would be running TOWARDS her, not away," Quatre said. An oriental girl with long black hair, streaked with blue, ran up the stands towards them.

"Heeeey Wufei. Hi Quatre," the girl said, sitting down next to them. She wasn't actually as crazy as she'd sounded before. "I know you're down there Heero, you might as well come on up." Heero, who'd climbed through the bleachers and was actually underneath one of the benches hanging onto it, reluctantly climbed back to the right side.

"It was worth a try," he muttered, glaring at the girl.

"Hi Jen," Quatre finally replied, looking amusedly at the girl.

"Who's your friend?" Jen asked, gesturing at Sally.

"That's Sally," Heero said, sitting down next to Jen. "Sally, Jen. Jen, Sally. She's in a lot of my classes," he explained to Sally, who nodded.

"I'm trying to get him to go to the end-of-the-year-dance with me, but he claims he's got a long distance relationship he doesn't want to forsake, even if we were to just go as friends," Jen said, feigning sadness. Heero winced as Sally raised an eyebrow.

"Long distance relationship, eh?" she said. "Are we referring to Relena?" Heero blushed, despite himself.

"Er...yeah," he mumbled, staring at the ground as if it held the answers to all of life's questions. Sally smiled.

"And does the princess know about this relationship?"

"She's a princess!" Jen exclaimed.

"Are you kidding? Heero has yet to talk to her," Wufei said, smirking at the Japanese youth and ignoring Jen.

"Well what am I supposed to do? If I were to just randomly call her or something, she'd probably keel over and die of a heart attack," Heero said sarcastically.

"I think she'd like a phone call from you, Heero," Sally said seriously. "The last time I talked to her, she said she wished there was a law that said she had to be eighteen with a high school diploma too. She's not very happy with her job right now."

"And she has every right not to be. She's only sixteen, and she's got a shit load of work piled on her shoulders," Wufei spat. Heero just shrugged.

"Hey, wait, I'm confused," Jen said. "You're dating royalty, Heero?" Heero blinked.

"Uh, yeah, something like that," he mumbled.

"Aw man, well I won't mess with that," she said, standing up and preparing to leave. "Onto my next victim!" she exclaimed. She took two steps, before plopping down next to Wufei. "Do YOU want to go to the dance with me Wu-wu? PLEASE?" Jen batted her eyelashes at him, as Wufei nearly choked on a piece of popcorn. Quatre and Sally burst out laughing, while Heero just smirked. Before much else could happen, the entire crowd collectively gasped, and the umpires on the field began blowing their whistles like crazy. Heero and the others jerked their heads back to the game just in time to see the trainer run out onto the field. They couldn't see who was injured because the whole team was crowded around the player, but it seemed they were all gathered at second base...

Duo sighed to himself as the game went on. Since it was getting closer to summer, it'd been getting hotter and hotter, and playing in these stupid pants was not helping any. Duo glanced to his right. The other team only had one out. It had looked like it was soon to be two, but then the person at bat suddenly hit a double instead of striking out. He was the only player on base so far, so Duo was keeping a close eye on him to make sure he wouldn't try to steal a base. It would be a stupid thing to do, but in the position they were in he wouldn't be surprised if they tried it. Duo looked at the person at bat now, sizing him up. He wasn't too big, but he'd hit a triple earlier in the game, if he remembered correctly. So far, however, the count was two and three. Duo crouched down.

The following events happened quickly, but it was like time had slowed to Duo. The player had managed to hit the ball, sounding out with a solid crack. He should have let an outfielder catch it, he realized later, but at the time he could only think about getting the person out. With amazing reflexive skill, Duo jumped, stretching his arm as high above his head as it would go. Somehow, he still didn't know, he did manage to catch the ball, getting the player out. But in the back of his mind, he realized that they still needed one more out to win. Thinking quickly, he noticed with a start that the player on second had taken a head start to third and now had quite a ways back to run to get to second.

'Great,' thought Duo quickly. 'Just throw the ball to second. The short stop should be there, right?' Duo, who was still in the air at this point, twisted around to throw the ball, only to find that the short stop was not it the right position. He was, instead of standing on the base, standing between second and third and staring up at Duo in complete amazement. 'Damn it! Brian!' Duo thoughts screamed angrily. That only left one option. Duo landed nimbly on his feet, and immediately dove for second base at the same time the other player started sliding. Duo's glove hit the side of the base a split second before the other player's shoe could, and he vaguely heard the umpire yell "OUT," signaling the end of the game and their victory, before the sliding person's shoe slammed into his wrist, cleats and all.

**_CRACK!_**

"FUCK!" Duo yelled, his eyes widening in pain. "Holy shit!" He curled up into a fetal position, clutching his gloved hand to his chest. It was throbbing with pain. Vaguely, he noticed a player from the Gators, the one who had slid into him, offering him a hand and apologizing profusely. He could also hear whistles blowing in the background, and the crowd must have been shocked into silence or something because he couldn't hear them at all. "Shit, shit, shit, fuck, damn it, it hurts, oh my freakin' God..." and a variety of other profanity left Duo's mouth as he struggled to sit up and pull off his glove. "Nooo, nonononono! Don't be broken! Pleeaaaase don't be broken. Ugh, shit, it hurts, ah, pain, lotsa pain," he continued to mumble, not even aware that he was speaking.

"Here, Duo, let me see," a familiar voice said, and Duo looked up, slightly startled to see the trainer hovering above him.

"Shit, it's Duo," Heero mumbled, practically jumping off the bleachers in his hurry. Sally and Wufei were right behind him.

"Duo?" Jen asked worriedly. "Oh no, what happened?"

"Oh God, we weren't watching!" Quatre exclaimed. "I feel awful now, what if something really horrible happened to him!"

"Quatre honey, I'm sure he's fine," Jen assured the blonde, standing up and following Heero and the others. Quatre nodded.

"I hope so," he said, following the oriental girl down the steps.

& & & &

Almost two hours later, the group made their way back to their house. Duo was sporting a nice white cast that covered from his hand up to just below his elbow. His wrist had broken in two different places, and the cast would have to stay on for at least three months, and then after that he'd probably have to wear some sort of arm brace for a while. Needless to say, he was not very happy, seeing as he was out for the rest of the season, and he'd be wearing the cast for some of summer vacation.

"I have the WORST luck," Duo grumbled as he climbed out of Sally's car. He'd ridden back from the hospital with her instead of the others.

"Well, look on the bright side, Duo," Sally said, walking around the car with three pizza boxes in her arms. "At least it's your left arm, and not your right. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to write anything for three months." Duo snorted.

"As it is, they won't let me DRIVE for three months. Knowing that I'll still be able to write is NOT going to cheer me up."

"DUO! Can I be the first to sign your cast?" Jen yelled, running up to meet him. She'd ridden to the hospital and then back to the house with Heero and the others. Duo blinked.

"Uh, yeah sure. Whatever," he replied, still not in a good mood.

"Come on, Duo. Cheer up! At least you guys won. And that was one of the best teams in the league! Plus, look! We rented movies!" Jen said, smiling brightly. Duo let a small smile grace his face.

"You didn't have to stick around, y'know. Thanks though," he said sincerely.

"Well, I wanted to hang out with my soon-to-be date to the dance," she replied, latching onto Wufei's arm. The Chinese teen grimaced. Duo raised an eyebrow.

"You asked him to the dance? Finally gave up on Heero, eh?"

"He's dating 'royalty,'" Wufei said sarcastically, causing Duo to laugh and Heero to glare at him.

"When is the dance anyway?" Quatre asked.

"In two weeks. I can't wait!" Jen exclaimed.

"I haven't asked anyone yet," Duo said. "Don't know if I'm going to."

"Ok, guys, you can talk about this inside because my arms are getting hot from these pizzas," Sally said, shifting the boxes in her arms.

"Oh geez, sorry Sal," Duo said quickly, holding out his arms as if to take one of the boxes. "Er...Heero, help Sally carry those in," he said after realizing he couldn't really hold one. Instead, he dashed up the front stairs to open the door. Quatre followed him in. "Isn't Trowa supposed to be home?" Duo asked, flipping the light in the dark hallway.

"Yeah, he is," Quatre replied, walking past the living room towards the kitchen. Suddenly he stopped mid-step and slowly walked backwards until he was standing in front of the entrance to the living room. His eyes were wide.

"Quat-" Duo started to say, but Quatre shushed him and pointed to the couch. Duo followed his finger, and immediately had to choke back on his laughter. "Tutoring her, eh?" he muttered. "In what, mouth to mouth?" Trowa and Carrie, who had apparently not heard them come in, were sitting on the couch, kissing each other hungrily. Their books were spread out around them, long forgotten.

"Duo, what are you waiting for?" Heero asked, coming up behind the two. Duo and Quatre immediately shushed him. "What-"

"Hey Trooowaaaa!" Duo yelled, cutting Heero off. Quatre's eyes widened.

"Duo!" he exclaimed. A loud thump and muttered curses were heard from inside the living room. Heero looked in the room just in time to see Carrie and Trowa, a good five feet away from each other, straightening out their clothes and hair. He raised an eyebrow.

"We brought dinner, unless you two would rather continue eating each others' faces off," Duo said teasingly. Trowa cleared his throat and Carrie blushed bright red. "Tutoring, ha!" Duo said, walking towards the kitchen.

"Studying hard, Trowa?" Sally asked, as she followed Duo. Trowa glared at her.

"Hey Carrie!"

"Jen?" Carrie asked, slightly surprised. "What're you doing here?"

"I just tagged along. Duo broke his arm," Jen replied, shrugging. Trowa's eyes widened.

"He what?" he asked.

"Wrist, Jen. I broke my wrist," Duo said, walking back out into the hallway carrying a piece of pizza. "It sucks."

"Sorry I wasn't at the game, Duo," Trowa said, staring at the cast on his wrist. "What happened?"

"Ugh, it's a long story. I don't feel like explaining it right now. I'll tell ya later." Trowa nodded.

"I'll hold you to that." Duo smiled.

"Tutoring," he mumbled again, shaking his head. Trowa blushed one more.

Later in the evening, after Jen, Carrie, and Sally had all left, the five guys were lounging lazily around the house. Quatre and Trowa were watching T.V. downstairs, while Heero and Wufei were both reading in their room. Duo had just taken an extremely long shower (A/N: Hey! It's not easy taking a shower with one of those bag things on your arm. Trust me, I've had to do it before.), and was now having a bit of trouble drying his hair and brushing it.

"Quatre?" he called, walking into the room that the two shared. The blonde teen wasn't there. Duo sighed and walked across the hallway to the other bedroom. "Anyone in here?" he asked, sticking his head through the doorway.

"Yep," Wufei said distractedly, not looking up from his book. He actually had his hair down, and his glasses were perched on the end of his nose.

"Oh good. Look, guys, I can't do shit with my hair right now. Do you think one of you could brush it and braid it for me?" Duo asked sheepishly. He held out a brush. It was quiet for a couple seconds. "Come on, please?" Duo asked again, shaking the brush. Heero sighed and pulled off his glasses.

"Sure, sit down," he said backing up on the bed. Duo smiled and bounded over, plopping down on the edge of the bed.

"Thanks, Heero."

"Hn," was the reply. The Japanese teen took the brush and started the long process of untangling Duo's long, brown hair (A/N: You guys didn't think I'd actually chop off Duo's hair, did you? Nah, he just got it trimmed or something.). When he finally finished, his bedspread was almost soaking wet from the water in Duo's hair. "Done," Heero said.

"Can you braid it for me?" Duo asked, looking over his shoulder at Heero. Heero blinked.

"Er...I...don't know how to braid," Heero admitted, staring blankly at Duo's hair. Wufei glanced at the two over the edge of his book, his eyes glinting mischievously.

"I'll do it," he offered, standing up and walking to Heero's bed.

"Thanks, Wu-maah I mean, Wufei," Duo quickly corrected himself as Wufei sent him a look.

"Not a problem," Wufei mumbled, taking Heero's spot. "Heero, find me a pair of chopsticks and a camera," he whispered so that only Heero would hear him. Heero didn't even bother asking why.

"I'll be right back," he said, rushing out of the room. It was quiet as Wufei worked on braiding Duo's hair. Duo sighed, and reached up unconsciously to check and make sure his earring was still in. Before long, Heero came back into the room just as Wufei fastened Duo's braid. Discreetly, he handed over the chopsticks, and sat down on Wufei's bed with the camera. Wufei started humming some random tune as he began twisting Duo's braid into a bun. The American teen just sat there with no idea about what was going on.

"Hey, Wufei, you forgot some," Duo said, referring to two strands of hair that were framing his face.

"Oops," Wufei said half-heartedly, sliding the chopsticks through Duo's hair to hold the bun in place. He smirked at his finished product and gave a thumb's up to Heero.

"You should have been a hair dresser, Wufei," he said, also smirking as he clicked a picture of Duo, who had his head slightly bent to examine his nails. Duo blinked as the flash went off, and his eyes slowly widened.

"What the hell did he do to my hair?" he asked warily, slowly reaching up to feel it. His eyes widened even more when he came to the chopsticks, and he ripped them out. "Wufei you asshole!" he exclaimed, just as Wufei burst out laughing. Heero also had a smirk on his face that was threatening to turn into a smile. "Remind me never to trust you again," he said faintly, laughter overtaking him. He fell back onto the bed besides Wufei, laughing with him, and another flash went off. The two stopped laughing abruptly and jerked their gazes up to Heero.

"Ah, family bonding," he deadpanned, an amused light in his eye. Wufei snorted and Duo began laughing again.

& & & &

The weeks passed on, drawing the school year to a close. The dance came and went, Wufei had gone with Jen while Trowa went with Carrie. The other three went alone, Duo claiming that it was better to dance with a lot of people instead of being stuck with the same person all night. Jen had promptly smacked him on the back of the head for that comment. Soon it was the last day of school. Truth be told, no one was actually looking forward to it because they still had two finals left to take that day before they were released for the summer.

"Hey, Heero, get up," Wufei mumbled, hitting the snooze button on their alarm for the second time that morning.

"I'll get up in a minute. Where's Trowa?" came the muffled reply.

"He got up when the alarm first went off," Wufei answered, climbing out of his bed and stretching his arms above his head.

"Hn."

"I'm getting dressed. You'd better hurry up," Wufei said, grabbing some clothes and heading towards the bathroom.

"Mhmm." Ten minutes later, Wufei exited the bathroom, only to find Heero still burrowed under his covers. Wufei sighed.

"Heero, what tests do you have today?"

"Hn...uh...English and...then gym class...no test there," Heero mumbled, rolling over onto his side.

"You stayed up studying for English, didn't you?"

"Mhmm." Wufei sighed again, and glanced at the clock. It was 6:45, they didn't have to leave until 7:15... He set up the clock so that the alarm would go off again in ten minutes.

"You've got ten more minutes to sleep, Heero. You don't want to be late for the last day of school, and we won't wait for you."

"Hn."

"...Right. I'll see you downstairs," Wufei said, giving up and heading out of the room. Ten minutes later, the alarm went off again, but Heero didn't hear it. Ten minutes after that, Heero cracked open an eye at the incredibly annoying sound.

"Damn it," he mumbled, hitting the off button. He burrowed back under his covers, and then his eyes flew open. According to the clock, it was 7:05. "Shit!" he swore, jumping out of bed and rushing downstairs. He slid into the kitchen, literally, in his socks and sweat pants, topless. Duo, who'd been attempting to butter a piece of toast with one arm, raised an eyebrow.

"Where've you been?" he asked, slightly amused.

"In bed," Heero muttered, grabbing a bagel and biting into it plain.

"Hey, slow down, you've got ten minutes, and it's not like you have to brush your hair or anything," Duo said sarcastically.

"Wrong, it takes a lot of time and precision to get my hair to stick out like it does," Heero monotoned, grabbing a glass and pouring himself some orange juice. He downed it in one gulp, while Duo chuckled at him.

"Is Heero up yet?" Wufei asked, walking into the kitchen. He too raised an eyebrow at Heero's appearance.

"Don't say a word," Heero growled. He stuffed the rest of the bagel into his mouth and went to refill his cup.

"And if I do?" Heero turned around and glared on him, which had the complete opposite effect that it was supposed to due to the fact that his cheeks were bulging with the bagel he had yet to swallow. Wufei and Duo burst out laughing. Heero gave up on the glaring and downed another glass of orange juice.

"You-you've got fi-five minutes, Heero," Duo choked out in between his laughter. Heero cursed and slid out of the room to get dressed. He managed to get ready in the five minutes he had, and the five headed off to school for their last day of finals.

Finally, some four hours later, they were free. Or, in Duo's words they were free. Actually, they were just out of school for the summer.

"I am SO glad that's over with," Duo exclaimed, crossing his hands behind his head as the sun shined down on them. "Pool, here I come!"

"Not until you get your cast off," Quatre reminded him gently, causing Duo to scowl.

"I get it off soon," he said, mainly to make himself feel better.

"I get my license in about a month," Heero spoke up, smiling-er-SMIRKing widely.

"So do the rest of us," Wufei said.

"Not Duo and Trowa," Heero said.

"True. So who's driving us home?" Wufei asked.

"I am," Trowa answered, sliding a pair of sunglasses on and dangling the keys from his fingers.

"Guys, I say we go to the beach this summer. Later I mean, after my cast's off and we all-YOU all have your licenses," Duo said, looking excited at the very idea.

"That'd be fun. I'm sure Sally would let us," Quatre added.

"When do they send out our report cards?" Trowa asked, climbing into the front seat of their car.

"In a few weeks," Heero replied, getting in the passenger side.

"Guys, I think I actually did good on the math final!" Duo exclaimed.

"That's great, Duo," Quatre said enthusiastically.

"TROWA!" a girl's voice called out. Carrie bounded up to their car. "Are we still on for tonight?" she asked, bending down to peck him on the lips since he was in the car.

"Of course," Trowa replied, smiling a little. "I'll pick you up at six."

"Sounds good," she said, smiling.

"Aw man, Trowa. Are you stealing the car for tonight?" Duo complained, though he was smirking at them.

"Yeah, sorry," Trowa said, not actually sorry at all.

"Hey, Wufei!" another girl's voice said. "Are WE still on for tonight?" Jen asked, her black hair shining in the sun. Wufei blinked.

"WE don't HAVE plans for tonight," he grumbled. He was halfway in the car, standing with one leg in it and one still on the street.

"Well then I guess we'll have to make some!" Jen said cheerfully, pecking him on the cheek. Wufei blushed a little.

"I'll call you," he mumbled, causing her to smile wider, as he ducked completely into the car. The two girls backed up a little as the car doors all slammed shut, and waved as the car started and began to pull out of the parking spot.

"I think I'll call Relena tonight," Heero muttered, looking out the window. Duo faked a gasp.

"Seriously! Didn't you say you'd do that, oh, about two months ago?" Heero glared at him.

"I'm serious this time."

"That's good to hear, Heero," Quatre said, buckling his seatbelt. Trowa honked the horn at a group of guys they knew as they sped past them. The group all waved at them.

"You guys, honestly. You have NO idea how glad I am this whole school thing is over with," Duo said, settling back into his seat. The other four in the car blinked.

"In case you've forgotten, Duo," Wufei started.

"We're only Sophomores," Trowa added.

"We've still got two more years of school left," Quatre finished. Duo groaned.

"Aw man!"

**¡END!**

* * *

Hehe, I'm quite fond of this fic still. It amuses me, what can I say? Let me know what you thought!

-Maxine


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